Light to moderate trades winds were helping to keep the vog away from the islands Tuesday, but a shift in the winds expected today may allow the gray haze to return.

A cold front moving in from the northwest is expected to revive the Kona wind conditions that carried a blanket of vog over the islands last week, Maui weather analyst Glenn James said.

“It will be a mirror reflection of last week. Last week the front drove down over Kauai and brought showers to Kauai and Oahu and then stalled,” he said.

Vacations love to come visit the island of Kauai to surf the waves, in fact top surfers of the world such as the Iron brothers are from Kauai. Tomorrow however is probably not the best day to go test those waves as Tropical storm Flossie is blowing up some pretty strong surf.

Hawaii is protected from hurricanes by the vastness of the Pacific (i.e. the improbability of a direct hit); as storms cross the Pacific they tend to lose strength if they bear northward and encounter cooler water.

Currently the weather on Kauai is an absolutely perfect 81 degrees, even with a passing shower. Showers on Kauai are really just there to refresh you a little and to provide one of the islands treasured rainbows for viewing. (After all it is always nice to find a pot of gold while on vacation.)

Literally there is no bad time to visit this lush tropical island, even if it is considered the rainiest spot in the world. Actually it is the rain forest that gets most of the rain. In the heart of the rain forest lies Mount Waialeale rising high above the island with an elevation of 5,148 feet. Here there is over 400 inches of rain a year.

Today Hawaii has more than 2,000 greenhouses as well as more than 3,000 acres of open fields used for this farming sector. More than 900 farms are in the floriculture and nursery business in Hawaii. The number is down slightly from the year before but well up from 2001 when there were fewer than 800.

Out-of-state flower and nursery sales, both wholesale and retail, came close to $50 million in 2005. This includes multiple transactions as some plants and flowers change hands from farmer to middleman before leaving the state. Almost a third of sales came just from out-of-state sales of potted foliage, but if potted and cut orchid sales are combined, the orchid sector is even bigger.

The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau has launched a new campaign aimed at promoting the 50th state to visitors.

After heavy rains caused damage to the islands in March, the weather in April has been splendid. The Bureau sent out a press release to all media on the U.S. Mainland accompanied by a picture of two kids playing on the beach at Princeville Resort on Monday.

The ad says, “Following unusually heavy rainfall in March, Kauai has experienced beautiful, sunny weather in April.”

The main focus of this campaign will be the islands of Kauai and Oahu, which suffered the most damage during the storm.

Now that the storm damage has been repaired, all that is left to be repaired is the confidence of visitors to Kauai.

Don’t let the news of the storm keep you from visiting this special place. All of the storm damage has been repaired and all resorts, beaches and roads are now open.

The weather has returned to a normal seasonal pattern, which means alot of sun and great weather along with an incredibly green island.

Due to people being reluctant to visit because of the lingering news of the storm, many fantastic deals are now available for visiting the island in May.

A number of state officials briefed Kauai residents on Monday night on the conditions of the many dams on the Garden Isle, especially Waita Dam.

Waita is the largest dam on Kauai and sits uphill from Koloa town.

An overflow crowd on Monday night was updated on the inspections done to all dams on Kauai over the past month.

There’s a new push for an independent investigation into the Kaloko dam break on Kauai. Today a House committee passed a resolution calling for the Attorney General to appoint a special counsel to look into the disaster. Others want the federal government to step in.

There are reports the state attorney general’s probe into the Kaloko dam break has become a criminal investigation, something Attorney General Mark Bennett would neither confirm nor deny. Now, Bennett himself is under the microscope.

Original story here.